News and press releases

TIRANA, 26 March 2013 – The Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania, Ambassador Eugen Wollfarth, hosted a working lunch for women parliamentarians today, to highlight achievements in promoting the role of women in political life and encourage the further increase of women’s representation in the new legislature...

The Director of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department, Alexey Lyzhenkov, met Jean-Michel Louboutin, the Executive Director Police Services of Interpol in Lyon on 26 March 2013 and discussed co-operation between the OSCE and Interpol...

SARAJEVO, 26 March 2013 – The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the support of the governments of the United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland, the United States of America and Italy, and in partnership with five judicial authorities and the European Union, officially launched in Sarajevo today the “War Crimes Processing Project”...

TASHKENT, 26 March 2013 – A three-day training course for police instructors on searching, identifying and seizing the proceeds of crime started in Tashkent today...

TIRANA, 26 March 2013- Seven thousand police officers will be prepared for their role in the electoral process through a series of trainings organized by the OSCE Presence and the Albanian State Police, ahead of the 23 June general elections...

SKOPJE, 25 March 2013 – The municipal elections in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia were highly competitive and efficiently administered, but partisan media coverage and a blurring of state and party activities did not always provide a level playing field, international observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities concluded in a statement issued today...

MOSCOW, 25 March 2013 – An OSCE-led seminar on improving the collection, usage and exchange of comparable data on migration in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation and Tajikistan started today in Moscow...

LONDON, 25 March 2013 – OSCE media freedom representative Dunja Mijatović, in a letter to the Georgian Foreign Minister, Maia Panjikidze, today presented a legal review of amendments to the Georgian broadcasting law, emphasizing the need to ensure the full functioning of the public broadcaster during the transition period.

TASHKENT, 25 March 2013 – Addressing the challenges of illicit drug trafficking is the focus of a three-day seminar supported by the OSCE that opened today in Tashkent...

TIRASPOL, 21 March 2013- The Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, Ambassador Jennifer Brush, met today in Tiraspol with Transdniestrian leader Evgeny Shevchuk and chief negotiator Nina Shtanski to discuss issues related to the 5+2 negotiations, including education and freedom of movement between both banks of the Dniester/Nistru river. The situation in the Security Zone was also discussed...

Strengthening mechanisms for the fight against corruption on the local level was the topic of an event organized by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, Interior Ministry and the Union of Municipalities on 20 March 2013 in Podgorica...

VIENNA, WARSAW, STRASBOURG, 21 March 2013 – The social fallout from the ongoing global economic crisis must not become an excuse to allow racism and prejudice to go unchecked, said Morten Kjaerum, Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), and Eva Smith Asmussen, Chair of the Council of Europe's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), in a joint statement to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination...

A dialogue between the police and young people supported by the OSCE office will take place on 21 and 22 March 2013 in the city of Vanadzor and the village of Arevashogh in Lori province in northern Armenia...

A train carrying 376 tonnes of a toxic rocket fuel component, which had been stored in deteriorating containers at a site in Shevchenkove, left Ukraine on 20 March 2013 for safe disposal as part of a project supported by the OSCE...

VIENNA, 20 March 2013- OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today expressed concern over the treatment of three journalists at Croatian Radio Television’s (HRT) news programme...

ASHGABAT, 22 March 2013 –A series of training courses on emergency response skills at airports organized by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat concluded today...

ASTANA, 19 March 2013- State officials, parliamentarians, religious leaders, scholars and non-governmental organization representatives discussed how to foster interfaith dialogue at a conference organized in Astana today by the Agency for Religious Affairs, and Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan with the OSCE Centre’s support...

New rules strengthening the rights of defendants as part of a revision of Armenia’s law on criminal procedure were the focus of a workshop organized by the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 19 March 2013 in the Armenian capital...

DUSHANBE, 19 March 2013 – Today, the OSCE Office in Tajikistan completed an eight-day training course for officials from border, customs and interior agencies of Tajikistan on risk management in the prevention of criminal activity...

ERGNETI, 18 March 2013- On 18 March the 32nd meeting under the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism took place in Ergneti, co-facilitated by the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office's Special representative on conflicts Ambassador Andrii Deshchytsia, and the Head of the EUMM, Ambassador Andrzej Tyszkiewicz...

VIENNA, 18 March 2013 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, expressed concern today about an agreement to establish an agency to regulate print media in the UK...

An OSCE conference on improving security of women and girls, promoting the economic empowerment of women and combatting all forms of human trafficking started in Adelaide in southern Australia on 18 March 2013...

BELGRADE, 15 March 2013- The Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, Ambassador Peter Burkhard, today called for respect and civility in public dialogue after a debate organized with the assistance of the OSCE Mission was disrupted...

The OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, said at a judicial training seminar in Krakow, Poland on 14 March 2013 that trafficked people’s legal rights must be upheld and given the same importance as punishing perpetrators in court...

AK-BULAK, Kazakhstan, 15 March 2013 – A roundtable discussion supported by the OSCE Centre in Astana on the reform of the Criminal Procedure Code of Kazakhstan began today in Ak-Bulak near Almaty...

BAKU, 15 March 2013 – OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier met Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in Baku today...

The OSCE Centre in Astana jointly with the Committee on Legislation and Judicial Reform of the Mazhilis (the lower Chamber of Parliament) and the Penal Reform International Office in Central Asia organized a roundtable discussion on 14 March 2013 on a draft law to establish a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) against torture in Kazakhstan...

SARAJEVO, 14 March 2013 – An introductory course on security sector reform, co-organized by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Armed Forces of BiH Joint Staff and the Centre for Security Studies ended in Sarajevo today...

The Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, Ambassador Jennifer Brush, visited two towns across the Dniestr/Nistru river- Rybnitsa on the left bank and Rezina, on the right bank of the river, on 13 March 2013...

The OSCE Centre in Astana jointly with the Committee on Legislation and Judicial Reform of the Mazhilis (the lower Chamber of Parliament) and the Penal Reform International Office in Central Asia organized a roundtable discussion on 14 March 2013 on a draft law to establish a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) against torture in Kazakhstan...

VIENNA, 14 March 2013 – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexey Meshkov in his address to the OSCE Permanent Council today outlined key priorities of Russia in the Organization in creating a system of “equal and indivisible security”...

Jeannette Kloetzer, the Deputy Head of the OSCE Centre in Astana, spoke at a conference on industrial safety and oil spill prevention, preparedness and response in Almaty, Kazakhstan on 14 March 2013...

The institution of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities marked its 20th anniversary in The Hague on 7 and 8 March 2013...

An OSCE-supported workshop on terrorist bombing prevention organized for representatives of the Assembly of Kosovo, Kosovo Police, relevant ministries, the customs service, the office of the special prosecutor and the business community concluded in Prishtinë/Priština on 13 March 2013...

The recommendations from the OSCE conference Internet 2013 – Shaping policies to advance media freedom were published on 13 March 2013...

On 13 March 2013, the OSCE Gender Section held a discussion in Vienna on women’s empowerment and security in Afghanistan. Miroslava Beham, the OSCE Senior Adviser on Gender Issues, underlined the importance of involving women at all stages of peace processes and the protection of women’s rights...

Representatives from government agencies, political parties, civil society and international organizations highlighted measures to enhance the transparency of political party funding and increase women’s political participation in Georgia, at a roundtable meeting co-organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Tbilisi on 12 and 13 March 2013...

ASTANA, 12 March 2013- A four-day training session for representatives of the Financial Police, the Financial Police Academy, the Supreme Court, the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Finance Ministry’s Committee on Financial Monitoring, the non-governmental Association on Countering the Laundering of Illegal Assets, central and commercial banks, police and other legal officials began in Koshchi near Astana today...

TASHKENT, 12 March 2013 – An OSCE-organized regional training course on anti-money-laundering standards for officials from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as Belarus, China and the Russian Federation, started today in Tashkent...

A three-day OSCE-organized training course on document security for Central Asian border service staff began on 11 March 2013 in Almaty, Kazakhstan...

PODGORICA, 8 March 2013 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today announced the opening of its limited election observation mission for the presidential election to be held in Montenegro on 7 April...

WARSAW, 8 March 2013- Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, called today for greater efforts to ensure full access to educational opportunities for Roma and Sinti women in order to help them overcome multiple forms of discrimination, on the occasion of International Women’s Day...

THE HAGUE, 7 March 2013 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara, speaking today at an event marking the 20th anniversary of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) said lasting peace and security can only be achieved by respecting and upholding human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to national minorities...

A team from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) visited Minsk from 5 to 7 March 2013 to present the final report of the Election Observation Mission for the 23 September 2012 parliamentary elections in Belarus...

The 57 OSCE participating States unanimously agreed on 7 March 2013 to reappoint the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to a second three-year term...

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 7 March 2013- OSCE Head of Mission in Kosovo Ambassador Jean-Claude Schlumberger is marking international women’s day with a call for a formal status for the central level Women’s Caucus and the appointment of women to senior level posts...

THE HAGUE, 7 March 2013 – Strengthening security and peace in the OSCE area will be impossible without full and equal participation of women in economic, political and social spheres of life, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara said today, speaking ahead of International Women’s Day marked on 8 March...

Twenty-five parliamentarians and experts from OSCE participating States in South-Eastern Europe discussed professional and ethical standards for parliamentarians, as well as benefits and challenges of creating a code of conduct for them at a workshop in Warsaw on 5 and 6 March 2013...

Measures to promote women’s political participation in Ukraine were highlighted at a discussion in the Ukrainian capital organized by the Kyiv Dialogue Forum and supported by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 5 and 6 March 2013...

Relations between public service media and citizens was the topic of an OSCE-supported regional conference that took place in Podgorica on 5 and 6 March 2013...